Method and machine for shredding wood



April 5.1927.

FyJ. MOORE vMETHOD ANDv MAGHINE Foa SHREDDING woon Filed Nov'. 25. 1925s sheets-'sheet 1 l VENTOR Mm Y ' /IfATToRNEY A ril 5 1927.

p F. J. MOORE METHOD AND MACHINE FOR SHREDDING WOOD 3 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Nov. 25. 1925 sATToRNEY Patented Apr. 5, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK J. MOORE, OF NORTH TONAWANDA, NEW YORK.

METHOD AND MACHINEi FOR SHBEDDING WOOD.

Application led November 25, 1925. Serial No. 71,474. i

compositions, such as artificial wood, plastics, insulating board, wallboard and other uses.

A further purpose of the improvement is to afford a method and mechanismby which wood can be shredded linto line particles of short lengths inplace of the wide at-shavings that come from a Wood surfacer.

Still an additional object of the invention is to provide a practicaland eflicient Y attachment for a w'ood planing machine of conventionaltype using, a rotary'cutter, so that the shavings coming from suchmachine will be in the form of ne shreds which can be used for a varietyof purposes with or without further treatment,

Another purpose of the invention is to aiford a method that enables thecreation of a valuable by-product from a Wood surfacing machine and thussubstantially reducing the cost of operation of the latter.

With these and other ends in view, the invention comprises the structurethat will appear clearly from the following description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features beingpointed out in the claims following the description.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevation of a convenltional type of wood planer orsurfacer,

illustrating the application thereto of a possible embodiment of theinvention; Y Figure 2 is an enlarged side view o f the parts v formingthe attachment for slitting the board;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the same; Figure 4 is a sectional Viewtaken vertically through the slitting rolls;

Figure 5 1s a plan view; Figure 6 is a sectional 6-6 of Figure 2, and

Figure 7 is a detail perspectlve view of one of the adjustable bearingsfor the slitting rolls. The invention may be carried lout in avariety ofways, and in the embodiment shown, it is applied to a conventional typeof Wood planer designated generally at 1,

view on the line and including a rotary planing cutter 2. In theoperation of planing a board, such a machine takes successive short cutsfrom the work'as the tools on the rotary cutter engage and disengage thesurface of the boardI resulting in short but wide shavings. Onepractical and successful way of carrying out my method resides inapplying to such a planing machine an attachment that slits the surfaceof the board before it is planed, preferably during its travel throughthe planer. The preferred way of doing this is to employ a rotaryslitting roll in advance of the planing cutter.

In the mechanism disclosed, 3 and 4 designate upper and lower slittingrolls mounted on shafts 5 and 6 which are mounted in adjustable bearings7 Bearings 7 have side guides 8 which engage guideways 9 in the uprights10. The upper bearings carry threaded posts 11 operated by nuts 12, thenuts 12 being provided with worm gears 13 that are operated by worms 14on the adjusting spindle 15. 'The ,lower bearings 7 are elevated orlowered through eccentrics 16 onl the adjusting spindle 17. In this way,the slitting rolls 3 and 4 can be adjusted to accommodate boards ofdifferent thicknesses, or to vary the pressure on a board, as Well asthe depth of cut by the knives 18 carried on the slitting rolls. Theremay be both upper and lower slittinov rolls or only a single roll,depending on wthether the lboard is to be planed on one or both Sides,and the roll spindles 5 and 6 carry pulleys 19 and 20 for engagement bya belt 21 operated from the power pulley 22, as shown in Figure 1. It isobvious, however, that other arrangements of slitting rolls and drivinginstrumentalties may be used Without changing the essential features ofthe method or function of the machine.

Figure 5 shows a board passing between the slitting rolls and beforereaching the planing cutter, the forward part of the 'board beyond theslitting rolls being prepared by the latter for the planing operation.This is also illustrated in Figure 4, which shows a slit in the surfaceof the board to a depth that will be planed off when the planing knifeis reached. I am aware of the various types of machines proposed andused for making excelsior, or wood wool, but in these, the planingoperation is one of a reciprocatory relation between the knife and thestock, resulting in long shavings or stringy coils, which are unsuitedfor the uses of my invention without "further treatment. To enable theuse of excelsior for such purposes necessitates grinding the mass,whereas with my method, the shreds or fibers are of such short lengthsthat they'require `no further cutting when used with. a binder formaking products such as insulating and wall board and the like.

Theprincipal advantage of the inven- -tion is that the product can beobtained `it comes yfrom the commercial planer. A

separate machine is-unnecessary, and the shredded mass is produced fromseasoned lumber such as is'ordinarily fed to a planing machine, ascontrasted with wood wool that is made from green lumber. A mechanismsuch as described causes the `shavings from fthe planer to,be in theform of very fine shreds of approximately one to three quarters of aninch in length, depending upon the arc of movement of the cutting tools.

The slitting knives and cuts formed thereby in the board may be arrangedotherwise than as shown, and the operation of slitting the surface ofthe board may be carried out on a machine separate from the planer ifdesired. This as well as other modifications and changes may be adoptedwithout departing from the underlying features of the invention or thescope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The method of Shredding wood which.

consists in slitting the surface of ya-board longitudinally and thenfeeding it endwise l to a cylindrical planing cutter withcircumferentially spaced knives which intermittently engage said slittedsurface and promechanism arranged in advance of the cut-` y ter andacting to form a series of longitudinal slits inthe surface of a boardbefore it reaches the planing cutter.

4. The combination with a 'wood planer including a cylindrical rotarycutter having circumferentiallyspaced knives, of aslittingroll arrangedin advance of the planing cutter and acting to form a series oflongitudinal slits in the surface of a board 'before it reaches theplaning cutter.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name. y

FRANK J MOORE.

